No reference filed against Justice Khosa: AGP

Says it appears someone is trying to create a wedge between legislature, judiciary

ISLAMABAD: There was a firestorm on local media after it was reported that the National Assembly speaker had filed a complaint against Supreme Court Judge Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in the Supreme Judicial Council, alleging that the judge had violated the sanctity of the speaker’s office.

The draft of a four-page document presumed to be a reference against Justice Khosa, the head of the five-member bench that disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was first aired on a private TV channel and later on other media outlets.



No one from the office of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq clarified it for hours and even Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi did not explicitly deny it when confronted by the media in Quetta.

“Not to my knowledge,” was the response of the attorney general at noon. He also did not deny it outright.

The office of the NA speaker remained mum till late in the evening, fomenting speculation at a time when the ruling PML-N is already in confrontation mode with the judiciary and the establishment.

Interestingly, copies of the draft shared with the media had some pages missing, including the last page which would have had the signatures of the authorised person. Likewise, it has been learnt that a draft, although prepared, has not been filed yet.



According to the draft, the speaker is complaining about the judge’s April 20 verdict in which he questioned Sadiq’s ruling in favour of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The draft says, “Unfortunately Justice Khosa in his judgment has attributed a failure on part of the speaker to inquire into or investigate the matter or to refer it to the Election Commission of Pakistan”. It is also stated that such biased and unwarranted findings of the judge against the speaker damaged the office of the speaker, “which is respected worldwide”.



In the evening, AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali said no reference against Justice Khosa had been filed.

“It appears that someone or some political party is trying to create a wedge between the legislature and the judiciary,” he said in a statement.

“You may have noticed a lot of disinformation being spread around. The idea seems to be to create despondency,” he added.